Ship and plough
Title and year
Ship and plough, 2002
Materials
Granite and water
Artist
Erik Brandt, b. 1937
Location
Løjt Storegade, across from the village church in the village Løjt Kirkeby, northeast of Aabenraa
Description
Future meets present in this fountain by Erik Brandt. Its title, Ship and plough, is an obvious historical nod to sailing, ship-building, and farming – traditionally the main occupations in the coastal Løjt Land area. The artistic idiom is modern, however, with the granite elements forming a starkly simple composition.
The largest element in this sculpture is the plough, which stands 2 metres tall, jutting up rather like an abstract ploughshare on a snow plough with rounded edges. The softness stands in contrast to an angular stairway on this element’s thin side, which points towards a circular well several metres away. On the edge of the well sails the sculpture’s ship, a tapered, black, elliptical shape. From the upper part of the ship, water trickles down over its even and uneven surfaces, bringing life to the stringent, modern forms.
Interestingly, the artist has brought the ages together again by engraving a small sun token, like a rock-carving, at the bottom of the large ploughshare stone.